This time was actually for a wedding that Matt was in. Of course I jumped on the opportunity to tag along for all the fun!
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| Leaving KC |
"If you are on flight-number-whatever to Las Vegas, your departing time is now 7:30 pm."
Whaaaaat?? There was a collective moan from everyone sitting there. We were suposed to leave at 5:45, and no one was pumped about sitting there for another almost two hour - us included. (AND they were out of my favorite strawberry liccorice. I had to settle for apple...and ate the whole bag again.)
I guess there were low clouds or bad visibility or something in Vegas, and they weren't letting in planes in or out. Lucky for us, the clouds cleared, and we actually got to take off around 6:45...putting us in around 7:30. We did our usual dance through the airport, and the cab line was surprisingly short (for Vegas)!
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| Shortest cab line we've ever seen in Vegas! |
It was raining and cold when we pulled up to Caesar's Palace. (We stayed there because that's where the wedding was.) Everything was decorated so beautifully - big bulbs, real trees and flowers and garland all over. I took plenty of pictures while Matt went to check us in...
I was very pleased with our room at Caesars. Especially the bathroom. Easily the biggest bathroom any of the rooms we've stayed in have had! We even had a decent view of the pools from our window.
We didn't have much time to hang out, because everyone else had already eaten dinner and were heading to old Las Vegas to check out some video game/bar place. We hopped a cab to meet them at Paris, and then realized it would be cheaper to get a limo for all 15 of us than pay for all the cabs. So that's what we did!
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| Riding in style through Vegas! |
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| Our first pic ever (Aug. '11) was in front of this statue! |
I hadn't ever been to "old" Las Vegas before, so I was excited to go. We pulled up in front of the cool Las Vegas flashing sign - photo op! - and then went in to Insert Coins. We all instantly knew it wasn't going to be what we were hoping for. It was pretty dead, and you had to pay extra just to sit down in one of the boths. What a crock. (And for the record, the website makes it look a billion times nicer than it really is.)
Matt and I - the only two who hadn't eaten dinner yet - hopped across the street for some quick Thai food. And by the time we got back, everyone was already ready to go back to the strip. Thank goodness. So back in the Hummer-limo we went, and got dropped off back at Caesers.
Most everyone went to their rooms for some sleep after that, but Matt and I, the wedding couple, and one other couple (best man + his wife) decided to have a drink at a little casino bar. We chatted for awhile, and Matt could tell I was getting antsy. I really wanted to go to the clubs. So we said our good-byes (they were getting ready to call it a night anyways) and headed to Aria to check out Haze.
Totally worth the $60 to get in for the last two hours of the night. It. Was. AWESOME. The ceiling had these giant speakers and lights that moved - they came down and twisted and turned. It was seriously so cool. It's up there in my top three favorite clubs now for sure. We had a blast dancing ...until my feet hurt so bad I could NOT wear my heels anymore.
We stood off the dance floor (where I could kick my shoes off) and watched/listened for awhile - which is almost as fun as dancing - and eventually decided to head back to the room for some sleep...around 3:30am.
But not before we had some fun jumping on statues in Caesars... (The pictures aren't good - I'll just share this one taken in a mirror.)
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| (Still carrying my shoes...) |
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Friday morning came way too early for Matt. He had to get up and meet the guys down in the lobby for some go-cart racing at 10am.
I decided to sleep in...
...until 2pm! Which just happened to be when I was supposed to be AT the bridal shower. Whoops. Dropped the ball on that one. Thankfully the bride wasn't too mad at me. :)
By the time Matt got back to the room - around 3 - I was just getting ready for the day. We decided to go down and grab a quick bite to eat at a little sandwhich shop in the casino, and walk around to check out more of Caesars.
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| Heading out for late lunch Friday. |
Anyways, I debated going to the actual rehearsal or not, but decided to go along and check it out.
Bad idea.
It was F R E E Z I N G outside. And of course I was wearing a dress that barely covered my butt cheecks - bare legs sticking out. Yikes. Thankfully I grabbed some towels from the desk before heading out. They were my only saving grace. (Vegas is so tricky in the winter!)
Caesars Palace
The view of the pools/wedding chapel from our room
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| The garden where the wedding was held. |
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| The bracelet Matt brought me from Guatemala matched my dress perfect! |
The bride and groom going over the wedding. Me FREEZING in my towel and short dress.
After rehearsal - which was pretty quick, thank goodness - we walked to PBR at Planet Hollywood, one of the happy couples favorite bars. Dinner was great, and then it was off to another of their fave spots: DB's Pong and Pool. I thought it was pretty much a spot for dudes to drink beer and play beer pong - and I wasn't pumped about it. Until I turned around and saw the stage... where guys were dancing/stripping! I about died. They wern't hot, and they couldn't really dance, which made it all the more enjoyable. It was straight out of Magic Mike, I swear. Needless to say, the girls were entertained for the night - laughing our faces off at that show.
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| PBR for reahearsal dinner. |
Our "entertainment" for the night at DB's - if you can see, that is a male dancer in the pic on the right.
Once the party started dying down, I convinced Matt to do one more night at the clubs. Surrender (at Encore) this time. (*And another very intoxicated couple from the wedding party decided to tag along. They lasted all of 5 minutes in the club - after they paid to get in.) The line wasn't too bad, and we convinced the girl checking names that her list was wrong and that we were in fact on the guest list. It worked. In my defense, we had filled out the on-line request twice to get on the guest list. So that meant I got in free and Matt only had to pay $20. Not bad.
We had heard Surrender was supposed to be the new "hot spot." And my was it ever. I think every person in Vegas was packed in to that club that night. We literally couldn't move or even get in to the dance floor area for awhile! It was a huge club - crazy loud music - just the typical for Vegas. Everything I love. :) We eventually finagled our way on the dance floor in the middle of the action, but it didn't last too long. Getting shoved every two seconds got old. We still stayed awhile and checked the space out, but we didn't last all night.
Once we decided to leave and started walking out, the music stopped and the DJ started making an announcement about some "Grammy Nominated DJ" coming on stage. We ran back in, thinking it was Calvin Harris, who we both love... And then he said, Steeeve Aaaiiioookkiiii!! (Steve Aoki) And everyone went nuts, haha - screaming and snapping pictures. We both just looked at each other like, "WHO?" Never heard of him, but apparently everyone in that club had. We had to stick around for awhile to check him out, and he was pretty awesome.
More pics from the back of Surrender.
After another cab ride back to Caesars, we weren't quite ready for bed yet. Matt needed to gamble - which is fine, as long as I am sitting next to him controlling his chips. $50/hand at Black Jack nearly gave me a heart attack every time, so once he doubled his money (in about 5 minutes, seriously), I told the dealer that, as his accountant, he was done playing, took the rest of his chips, and drug him to bed.
Tomorrow = wedding day!
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